From a clueless white woman, on RaceFail2009

[lalouve]

I have not been posting much, and commenting sparsely, but two things have now annoyed me sufficiently that I feel the need to vent. I know I still don't understand much about racism, but some of it should be blatantly obvious to anyone who's ever opened a book on feminism.

One thing was reading davidlevine 's entry on writing CoC, and especially this comment

Comments

[fierceawakening]

Maybe we need to see that the world is fucked up, and so will our art be, and work to change the world for future generations, also through being honest and sincere in our art - which I think you were being.

Yeah, this is my view. And honestly I think this gets lost in some of these discussions. I think some of the people who (rightly) are so upset about how people like them are depicted miss the point hidden in what the defensive white folks are saying: that sometimes even when we've agonized over it, there's something that will come off wrong unless we yank POC from our worlds entirely, and we've made the choice to let that be.

Of course, in some cases, people are just ignorant and silly, romanticizing their savage bruisers or dreaming up we-sha-sha. But some of this stuff, sometimes... sometimes I do think it becomes an unfair pile-on.

I don't know if you're reading my novel, but one of the major non-main characters, and hopefully one of the most likable characters, is a black man. And in many ways, I can see someone deeming him a Magical Negro. He's helpful and kind in a way most other characters, embroiled in politics, are not. He cares for a character everyone else hates (who is white), and tries to protect her.

He has sex with the courtesan-character, and I haven't shied away from mentioning they've got different color skin there, too.

I don't know what people think; I've not heard anyone so far comment on the racial dynamics. But I know that someone sensitive to this stuff could find things not to like. In the end, though, it came down to, just as I said with the drawing, painting the character white for security or saying to hell with the "there are no POC in space" convention of way too much SF.

I think I chose wisely. I think there are some people for whom no choice, there, is a good choice.

Unless, perhaps, it be researching cultures of color and crafting a character totally faithful to them, no matter how irrelevant that would be to the plot.

And the thing is... I can see why people want that, but not every story demands it. And it bothers me when people claim politics does. (Besides which, there are a LOT of people who are bothered by people assuming they identify always and only with "Their Culture", too. When people assume I'm Greek Orthodox, it baffles me.)

[green_knight]

researching cultures of color and crafting a character totally faithful to them

I think in a very rounabout way that, too, is a way of continueing the myth.

Because no two experiences are the same. I know of people who encountered very similar situations and came away with totally different subjective experiences, and overlays are happening in many different situations. Growing up poor in a trailer park - one kind of experience. Growing up black: another kind of experience; but the overlap between a white and a black kid in the same trailer park will be greater than that of a black kid there and the cherished only child of a doctor or lawyer. You need to find out *what is a likely experience and background for that character* and approach it from as many directions as necessary - culture, background, family history, gender...

I think it's important to remember that there is no single label that 'identifies us' just a hodgepodge of exeperiences, background, character traits...